A jury on Wednesday convicted a man of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in a 2007 cold case that went to trial after police said DNA evidence linked him to the attack.

Jason Nickerson was found guilty of four counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon. He was acquitted of one count each of second-degree robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Nickerson, 31, shook his head and looked down as he was handcuffed after the verdict was announced. The maximum penalty for first-degree sex assault is life in prison, prosecutors said.

Authorities alleged Nickerson picked up the girl in Providence on June 30, 2007, drove her to a parking lot and sexually assaulted and beat her over three hours.

The Providence Journal reported that the victim, now 21, and Nickerson testified at trial. Nickerson said he hired the girl as a prostitute. The newspaper reported the woman testified she was walking home when a man pulled over and offered her a ride, which she accepted. She said the man drove in the wrong direction and stopped in the parking lot, where the assault took place.

Nickerson's defense attorney, Michelle M. Alves, said she will ask for a new trial next month. She declined to comment further. Nickerson is scheduled to be sentenced on June 14.

Under state law, Nickerson had to submit a DNA sample after pleading no contest to second-degree robbery in 2010 in an unrelated case. A little more than two months later, a DNA match linked Nickerson to the assault in Providence and another reported to police in Connecticut, according to a police affidavit.

Prosecutors have said they do not recall another cold case involving sexual assault going to trial with DNA evidence obtained under the law, which has been on the books since 1998.

"DNA has become one of the most reliable pieces of evidence in criminal investigations and prosecutions," Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin said in a statement. "Not only does it provide the opportunity for more efficient investigations, it also provides for more effective investigations by assisting in cold cases, such as this one."

Kilmartin also praised the victim, saying "the strength of this young woman has been remarkable."

Investigators had little to work with before the DNA match.

The teen was picked up and was driven around for about 30 minutes before the driver stopped in the parking lot, locked the doors and demanded oral sex, an affidavit said.

The girl didn't know where she was, police have said. She tried to escape but was punched repeatedly in the head and told that if she continued to resist, she and her family would be killed, the affidavit said.

After three hours, the teen was driven elsewhere and ordered out of the vehicle. The man took her cellphone and pocketbook and threatened her again, the affidavit said. She was picked up by a good Samaritan and was taken to a children's hospital, where a rape kit examination was performed, prosecutors said.

Page 2 of 2 - A few days later, police said, the girl was shown a number of photo arrays but could not identify her attacker. There were no developments for three years.

Nickerson remained free but not out of trouble. In 2008, Nickerson was arrested a few weeks after an East Greenwich bank was robbed when police got a tip that his wife was bragging about him making off with thousands of dollars in a bank holdup, police have said.

After Nickerson pleaded no contest in the bank robbery case, a DNA match came back linking him to the two sex assaults, an affidavit said. Prosecutors said Wednesday that the victim in the other attack met Nickerson at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut and reported being assaulted to police in that state. Prosecutors said they've learned the assault took place in Rhode Island, but they've lost contact with the victim, who they believe may be living in the Dominican Republic.

Last year, a grand jury indicted Nickerson in the 2007 sexual assault in Providence. About a month later, he was indicted in a separate case accusing him of domestic sexual assault. Nickerson has pleaded not guilty in the domestic sexual assault case.